// THE PLATFORM
Mining LIMS
Modules & Licensing
OnLIMS gives a mining, assay, metallurgical or smelter laboratory one system from sample reception to the client's result: OnLAB for jobs and certificates, OnWSH for readings from balances and 150+ instruments, OnQC for standards, blanks and duplicates, and LabData for your clients.
In production since 1989: see the history5.0 on Mining Software Reviews · 5.0 on Google
OnWSH: worksheets, weights and instrument imports
Your analysts work in one worksheet per run, built from the laboratory's own template, with the samples of one or several OnLAB jobs loaded together. Readings, calculations and reportable results sit side by side, so a reviewer sees how every number was reached.
- Capture and import: Balance weights arrive over RS232, and AAS, ICP, XRF and LECO readings are imported into the right sample rows, element columns and units, with no retyping.
- Calculate: Working columns, @ calculation columns and reportable results apply formulas, dilution factors and detection limits. For example, a 25 mg/L reading, a 50 mL volume and a 1.0000 g mass give 0.125 % Cu.
- Prepare the run: QC samples are loaded with the run, a weighing sheet prints the sample order, weights and volumes for the balance, and worksheet templates keep their revisions.
OnQC: standards, blanks and duplicates
OnQC holds each standard, blank and duplicate with its tests, units, certified value and accepted range. Once the controls are in the worksheet, they are checked automatically when results are locked, so an out-of-range QC never passes unnoticed.
- Check the range: For example, a standard certified at 10.0 mg/L with an accepted range of 9.0–11.0 mg/L: a 10.4 result locks straight away; 11.5 opens the Control Chart.
- See the history: Shewhart, X-Control and CUSUM charts show each control over time, and any point leads back to its worksheet, value, date and the user who locked it.
- Record the decision: The analyst cancels to investigate, or an authorized user accepts with a note. The accepted value stays red, bold and underlined, so reviewers see it at a glance.
OnLAB: jobs, samples and certificates
Reception registers the client's samples and requested assays once, in a batch job; recurring plant sampling runs as a routine whose samples are linked each time a worksheet is saved. From there OnLAB publishes results, issues certificates and keeps the job's audit.
- Register samples: Client, reference, tests, units and sample IDs are recorded in one job and checked before it is saved.
- Publish and correct: Only users with the publishing permission release results. A published result is corrected by unpublishing, editing, reviewing and publishing it again, and the change stays in the job audit.
- Issue the certificate: Certificates print in the laboratory's approved format, with a preview of sample IDs, methods, units and qualifiers before issue.
- Export the job: Job results go to CSV, XLSX or XLS for the client or another system, carrying published values only.
LabData: job progress and published results
Your clients follow their own work without calling the laboratory: they find their jobs, see job details and pending and ready counts while work is in progress, and view results as soon as they are published.
- Find a job: Filters by client, date range and job number open the report with its samples and tests.
- Review the data: Export, sample tracking, results audit, worksheet view and routine summaries, shown to each account according to the access the laboratory gives it.
- Request assays: Clients send an analysis request with the analysis suite, sample IDs and notes, and the laboratory creates the OnLAB batch job from it.
// CONFIGURATION AND DAILY WORK
Configuration, QC analysis and the records auditors ask for
For your laboratory, the setup, the QC statistics and the audit records live in the same system as the results. For accreditation evidence, see OnQMS; for a live board of the laboratory's backlog, see OnSight.
OnConfig
Application settings, clients, instruments, users and roles in one place, with audit and error logs for IT and the QA manager.
OnLQC
Standards, blanks, duplicates, controls, replicates and spikes collected from the worksheets in one view; duplicate differences plotted against mean concentration; chart data exported to Excel and QC records to XML.
OnLAB: sample labels
Labels for the selected samples of a job, printed in the laboratory's own label format after an on-screen preview.
OnWSH: template revisions
Worksheet templates are created from a saved worksheet and kept as named revisions, so a method change is tried on a new worksheet while the current template stays in use.
OnWSH: weighing sheets
A printed sheet for the balance with the sample and QC order and only the columns the weigher needs.
OnLAB: recorded job events
Each job's audit lists dates, users and previous and new values, filters by sample and test, and saves to Excel for an auditor.
OnLAB: below-detection reporting
A result below the detection limit is reported as the limit with its qualifier. For example, a Cu reading of 0.05 % with a 0.10 ND detection limit shows as 0.10 ND on the job and the certificate, while the worksheet keeps the calculated 0.05.
// INSTRUMENT CONNECTIONS
150+ instruments, from the balance to the ICP
For your laboratory, readings go from the instrument to the worksheet without retyping. Our connection catalogue lists 150+ instruments from about 40 brands, including Agilent, PerkinElmer, LECO, Metrohm, Thermo Scientific, Malvern PANalytical, Eltra, Bruker, Rigaku, Spectro and Chrysos PhotonAssay. Balances send weights on line over RS232; AAS, ICP, XRF and LECO results are imported into the matching samples, elements and units.
Agilent 5110 and 7900; PerkinElmer NexION 2000x; Thermo Scientific iCAP 7000; Spectro Ciros.
Agilent 240FS, GBC SavantAA, Varian Spectra AA and Perkin Elmer PinAAcle 900.
PANalytical Axios, Bruker S8 Tiger, Rigaku ZSX Primus IV and Spectro Xepos v5.
LECO CS744 and CS 844; Eltra CS800x. Mass, carbon and sulfur go straight into the worksheet.
Analytical balances send each weight over RS232 straight into the selected worksheet cell, ready for the calculation.
Metrohm OMNIS, Mettler Toledo GS20Sx, Thermo Fisher Scientific Genesys 150 and PerkinElmer Lambda25.
// INTEGRATION BY INSTRUMENT
// FROM THE LAB BENCH
“They took the time to understand our processes rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution. […] OnLIMS is highly configurable, which means you can adapt the system to your operation instead of having to change your operation to fit the software.”
— Mining laboratory · 5-star review on Google
“The software supports our mining laboratory operations, including assay data management and integration with laboratory instruments such as LECO analyzers and electronic balances.”
— Mining laboratory, Mount Polley · review on Mining Software Reviews
“It has both functionality and flexibility in processing and organizing analytical data from instruments most commonly used in a chemical analysis lab, especially for ICP-MS and ICP-OES analysis.”
— Environmental chemistry laboratory · review on Mining Software Reviews
Unlimited Users.
Per-Instrument Scale.
Unlike clinical LIMS that charge exorbitant per-seat licenses, OnLIMS uses an industrial licensing model tailored for mining sites.
- Unlimited Management Users: Give LabData and OnLAB access to every geologist, operator, and manager without extra seat fees.
- Instrument-Based Pricing: You only license the active instrument-facing applications (OnWSH, OnQC) per connected machine.
- Zero Replacement Penalties: Upgrading an old ICP for a new one? Swap the instrument without incurring new software licensing fees.
- Predictable Support: First year of maintenance included after go-live; annual support thereafter at 18% of license cost — software updates, instrument drivers and IT support included.
∞
UNLIMITED SEATS FOR LABMANAGER & LABDATA
// IMPLEMENTATION
From kickoff to go-live
Before go-live, your own samples run through the whole path: registration, instrument import, QC, publication, certificate and the client's view.
Users and reference data
Clients, instruments, users and roles are set up in OnConfig, with the permissions for editing, export and publication agreed with the laboratory.
Workstations and the shared release
The release goes into the shared folder and workstations connect to the SQL Server database, on site or through Citrix Virtual Apps or Microsoft RDS.
Instrument capture
Known balance weights and real exports from your instruments are compared with their worksheet cells, so the laboratory sees its own instruments working before go-live.
Worksheet templates and QC
Formulas, units and detection limits are set in the OnWSH templates, and standards, blanks and duplicates are linked to their QC records for the check at locking.
The complete sequence
Analysts practice reception, import, QC review, publication and the certificate preview. The first year of support is included after go-live; thereafter 18%/yr covers updates, instrument drivers and IT support.
Review the modules with your laboratory workflow
Bring your sample flow, instrument list and QC limits, and see the modules working on them in a technical session for your operation.
Product
Frequently Asked Questions
How the applications, instrument integration and licensing fit together.
Which applications make up OnLIMS?
OnLAB registers jobs and samples, publishes results and prints certificates. OnWSH holds readings from balances and 150+ instruments, calculations and QC rows. OnQC defines standards, blanks and duplicates and charts their history; OnLQC adds QC analysis and export views. LabData gives clients their results and analysis requests. OnConfig maintains settings, clients, instruments, users and roles.
How is OnLIMS licensed?
Management modules — OnLAB, LabData and OnConfig — are licensed per site with unlimited users. Instrument modules — OnWSH and OnQC — are licensed per connected instrument; with manual entry they are included in the site licence. The first year of maintenance is included after go-live; afterwards an annual agreement at 18% of licence cost covers software updates, instrument drivers and IT support.
What does each workstation need?
A Windows workstation with access to the shared folder and an ODBC connection to the SQL Server database. The applications run from that folder, so an update is tried in a copy and then replaces the shared release once for everyone.
How are access and publication controlled?
OnConfig manages users and roles. Locking a worksheet requires an authorized user, publishing results requires the publishing permission, and each LabData account sees only the clients and results it is given access to.
How are job results exported?
OnLAB exports a job to CSV, XLSX or XLS, with a preview of samples, tests and units. Only published results carry their values, and the export can be limited to the tests marked valid in the job.
Which instruments does OnLIMS connect?
More than 150 instruments from about 40 brands, across AAS, ICP-OES/MS, XRF, carbon/sulfur, calorimeters, titrators and balances, among them Agilent, PerkinElmer, LECO, Metrohm, Thermo Scientific, Malvern PANalytical, Bruker, Rigaku and Chrysos PhotonAssay.